On August 11th - Jenstar, Dave_N, Dax, and I took some time out from SES San Jose to visit The Tech Museum of Innovation which was a few minute walk away from the convention. There was all sorts of activities and games - many geared towards kids, but fun for adults as well. Dax, Dave and I each got to try out the Segway. It was about what I expected. I has always read that it was easy to use and intuitive, but got a little bit nervous when I saw the guy before me having trouble. The employee at the Tech Museum was suggesting that his being nervous was throwing the sensors off balance. I wasn’t nervous and didn’t have a problem. So if you get to ride one, just trust the thing and you will be ok. You simply lean forward to go forward, lean back to go back, and use the control on your left hand to turn right and left. Click on Dave’s picture to see him ride the Segway.

Also at the Tech Museum I was able to take a picture of myself with a thermal camera. When you buy your ticket to get in - you also get a little tag that has a small chip in it that you can use at several of the activities. You can log in later on the web to view some of what you have done - which is how I got the picture to the left. I also got to see aerogel for the first time, but it is kind of buried among other exhibits in the space area. There are plenty of activities to do with friends - you can do a wheelchair race simulator, play a game similar to Donkey Kong Bongos with maracas, and there is even a station that allows you to do "Internet Arm Wrestling". You basically arm wrestle against a robot arm which then transfers your actions to a person sitting a few feet away - or apparently even at another museum. Although I won my first match, I suffered a humiliating loss in my second match. I won’t tell you who beat me, but it wasn’t Dave or Dax.

Posted by Chris on Monday, August 15th, 2005 at 2:28 pm.